Mounting structure for sliding nozzle unit

ABSTRACT

There is provided a mounting structure in which a guide arm is arranged on each of two sides of a sliding nozzle unit mount in the bottom of a ladle, and the housing of a sliding nozzle unit is provided with a roller on each one of two sides thereof, whereby the rollers are moved on the guide arms to mount the sliding nozzle unit on the nozzle mount.

i United States Patent Nigorikawa et a].

Nov. 4, 1975 MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR SLIDING NOZZLE UNIT Inventors: Tetsu Nigorikawa, Fukuyama;

Masanori Sakai, Hiroshima; Masayoshi Nakajima, Okayama, all of Japan Assignees: Nippon Kokan Kabushiki Kaisha;

Kokankikai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha; Tokyo Yogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, all of Tokyo, Japan Filed: Feb. 11, 1974 Appl. No.: 441,513

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 12, 1973 Japan 48-17513 US. Cl. 222/555; 137/315; 222/561;

266/38 Int. Cl. B22D 37/00; B22D 41/08 Field of Search 137/315; 222/548, 561,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,593,260 7/1926 Hippenmeyer 137/315 1,955,787 4/1934 Behringer 137/315 X 3,430,644 3/1969 Lymann 222/555 UX 3,459,346 8/1969 Tinnes 222/555 UX 3,760,993 5/1971 Meier 222/561 X 3,765,579 10/1973 Cramer et al.... 222/561 X Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerDavid A. Scherbel Attorney, Agent, or FirmHaseltine, Lake & Waters [57] ABSTRACT There is provided a mounting structure in which a guide arm is arranged on each of two sides of a sliding nozzle unit mount in the bottom of a ladle, and the housing of a sliding nozzle unit is provided with a roller on each one of two sides thereof, whereby the rollers are moved on the guide arms to mount the sliding nozzle unit on the nozzle mount.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,917,130

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,917,130

l 5 4 6 hwl P 2 o flwh IPHMHU w/ 9 B lu h r MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR SLIDING NOZZLE UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sliding nozzle unit mounting structure and more particularly to a mounting structure for a sliding nozzle unit of the type which is mounted as a unit on the bottom shell of a ladle.

In the past, when a sliding nozzle assembly comprising a main nozzle and a turning gear disposed in a housing and adapted for mounting as a unit is to be mounted in place at the bottom ofa ladle equipped with a driving means for driving the turning gear, it has been the general practice in the art that wires or specially deisgned jigs are attached to a pair of guide arms and the sliding nozzle assembly is suspended by means of for example chain blocks, jib crane or wall crane and mounted in place.

A disadvantage of such mounting operation is that the mounting operation requires much time and labor due to complicated positioning work, etc., and moreover the operation requires almost exclusive use of the crane or the like thus frequently preventing the smooth progress of other operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With a view to overcoming the foregoing difficulty, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting structure for a sliding nozzle unit which ensures a safe and easy mounting operation and which reduces the time during which crane is used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary sliding nozzle unit incorporating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the bottom portion ofa ladle at which the sliding nozzle unit of FIG. 1 is mounted, the ladle being placed with its bottom surface standing vertical.

FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the guide arms used in the embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sliding nozzle unit 1 is provided with a pair of rollers 4 which are mounted on supporting arms 3 arranged on both sides of a housing 2. In FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 5 designates collector nozzles, 6 a turning gear, 7 locking bolt holes. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of guide arms 10 are provided on both sides of a nozzle mount 9 at the bottom of a ladle 8 to extend therefrom so that the rollers 4 may be moved on the guide arms 10. In FIGS. 3 and 4, numeral 11 designates nozzle hole, numeral 12 designates driving means for driving the turning gear 6 and numeral 13 designates eye bolts hinged to nozzle mount 9 at one end of the bolt and fix the nozzle unit at the bolt hole 7 at the other end of the bolt to fasten the sliding nozzle unit 1 in place.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each guide arm 10 is preferably constructed so that its entire length is divided into two parts. When mounting the nozzle unit 1, a forward portion 10 is fit on the guide arm 10 to increase its length and it is removed upon completing the mounting operation, thus reducing the length of the guide arm 10 that extends from the shell of the ladle bottom and preventing the occurrence of any inconvenience to the pouring operation of molten steel.

With the construction described above, the manner of arranging according to the present invention is as follows. In mounting the sliding nozzle unit 1, the ladle is placed with the bottom surface standing vertical and in the posture as shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle unit 1 is raised by means of for example the hooks of a crane which catches the supporting arms 3 and the nozzle unit 1 is then lowered in such a manner that the rollers 4 of the nozzle unit 1 engage with the grooves of the guide arms 10 projecting from the ladle bottom. In this case, the setting height of the guide arms 10 is preselected so that the nozzle unit 1 thus lowered is properly positioned. Consequently, when the nozzle unit 1 is properly lowered in place by the crane, the operation no longer requires the use of the crane and all what is needed is to move the nozzle unit 1 on the guide arms 10 by means of the rollers. 4. In this way, the mounting of the nozzle unit 1 to the ladle 1 can be effected very easily and safely. The sliding nozzle unit incorporating the illustrative embodiment of this invention is of the unit type which comprises a stationary plate, a sliding plate having collector nozzles and pressing means and which is adapted to be mounted as a unit.

It will thus be seen that the present invention has among its remarkable advantages the fact that there is no need to continuously suspend a sliding nozzle unit by means of for example crane until the completion of the mounting operation and hence the time during which the crane is occupied by the mounting operation is reduced, thus eliminating the danger of deteriorating the efficiency of other operations and improving the operation efficiency of the field work.

What is claimed is:

l. A mounting structure for supporting a sliding nozzle unit on a ladle having a pair of spaced guide arms projecting from a lower portion of said ladle, said nozzle unit comprising a housing, said guide arms extending each on opposite sides of said housing; a roller being mounted on each of said two opposite sides of said housing, each said roller being rotatable on respectively one of said guide arms for moving said nozzle unit towards and away from said ladle; and cooperatively engaging means on said housing and ladle for fastening said nozzle unit onto said lower portion of said ladle.

2. A mounting structure as claimed in claim 1, said nozzle unit housing comprising a stationary plate; and a slidable plate for mounting nozzles of said nozzle unit, the surface of said stationary plate extending in parallel with the surface of said ladle on which it is mounted. 

1. A mounting structure for supporting a sliding nozzle unit on a ladle having a pair of spaced guide arms projecting from a lower portion of said ladle, said nozzle unit comprising a housing, said guide arms extending each on opposite sides of said housing; a roller being mounted on each of said two opposite sides of said housing, each said roller being rotatable on respectively one of said guide arms for moving said nozzle unit towards and away from said ladle; and cooperatively engaging means on said housing and ladle for fastening said nozzle unit onto said lower portion of said ladle.
 2. A mounting structure as claimed in claim 1, said nozzle unit housing comprising a stationary plate; and a slidable plate for mounting nozzles of said nozzle unit, the surface of said stationary plate extending in parallel with the surface of said ladle on which it is mounted. 